In 1976, I started publishing a monthly journal of photography called "Yeni Fotoğraf". This prompted me to develop my earlier study of the history of photography in Turkey. The few old photographs I had in my possession at the time have since grown into a significant collection. During my initial study of photography in the Ottoman Empire I read most of the travelogues written by those who had ventured into this eastern empire. I also sought out all the relevant historical accounts available. What was the secret that made it possible for photography to enter the palaces of the Ottoman Sultans with such ease? How did it happen that these Sultans, the Caliphs, and therefore the spiritual leaders of the Islamic peoples, not only gave their full support to photography but also bestowed upon the photographers the honors and medals of the Empire? What kind of world is depicted in these photographs? Through them we can glimpse a civilization, the streets of whose great metropolis are adorned with both the costumes of the Orient and the elegance of Europe. Here we find men wearing the red fez so characteristic of the Ottoman Empire; ladies, veiled behind the snow-white yashmak, looking out at us with their deep, dark eyes; and the wondering looks of Europeans who have come to meet a different world. Istanbul has been described as "The Pearl of the Orient". Among the cosmopolitan cities of the world it is the one that has, in the course of its history, undergone the greatest transformation.

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